First, we don’t need all the government we have. We’ve now been through two entire cycles of doomsaying, first over the sequester and next over the so-called shutdown, and twice now the doomsaying has proven to be almost comically overblown. Even as Republican approval ratings tank, let’s not forget that 80 percent of Americans have felt “no personal effect” from this latest alleged cataclysm. As for the sequester, well I daresay that most Americans barely even know what it is, much less have felt the slightest effect. News flash: We can shrink government, and the sun will still rise.

Second, elements of the government are malicious and spiteful. Of the 20 percent that have been affected by the shutdown, how many have been affected through pure malice? I know this is well-trod ground here in the Corner, but moving beyond the conservative echo-chamber, there were many, many Americans who experienced (or read about) truly needless government closings, saw absurd barricades closing open-air parks and even deserted scenic overlooks, and shook their heads in complete disbelief that the Penatagon couldn’t find the tiny amount of funds necessary to provide the most basic death benefits for America’s fallen. The government spent money to make Americans suffer. That will be remembered.

Third, the government can be staggeringly incompetent. Only 51,000 people have completed Obamacare applications in the first week of a very widely publicized operation?